


Nothing Between Us

by indecisive_strike



Category: Ghost (Sweden Band)
Genre: And then Nihil also gets his ass handed to him, But Copia still loves him, I and II are still alive but not relevant, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Nihil is mad that Papa III is kind of a loser, Nihil is mean, Until he fuckin' dies, ghost lovers, slightly AU, the band ghost - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-20
Updated: 2020-03-20
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:26:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23233207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/indecisive_strike/pseuds/indecisive_strike
Summary: This was a Secret Santa thing I wrote in late 2018 for Tumblr user @vulnavias! Still pretty good, so I finally want to upload it here.Basically, Papa III is slacking, everyone is mad, and then Nihil takes care of it which makes Copia sad, among other things.
Relationships: Cardinal Copia/Papa Emeritus III
Comments: 8
Kudos: 23





	Nothing Between Us

Papa III snaked his arm around Copia’s bare waist slyly as the other attempted to get out of the bed. The Cardinal never dared to think about it as their shared bed because it would be not only narcissistic but also incredibly foolish to think that he was the only other occupant it had sheltered. 

“I have to go,” Copia said in reply to the wordless gesture. “Even if I wanted to spend all my time with you, I couldn’t. Not today, at least.” He let out a loud sigh as he wiped some of Papa’s smeared face paint off of his lips and searched the room for his discarded clothes.

“And here I thought that you loved me,” Papa said, far too nonchalantly for Copia’s tastes. He had to admit that it stung more than expected to hear his occasional partner say that, but Copia pretended that the comment didn’t matter to him either.

“You know that I do, Papa.” The Cardinal’s voice was barely louder than a whisper and he cursed himself for being so obvious. “Perhaps I will be able to come back tonight, alright?” His Papa only nodded, so he continued. “Please be careful until then. I know that you think you’re untouchable, but you’ve heard just as many rumors as I have.”

Copia’s concerns were finally enough to catch Papa’s attention and he gave the Cardinal a stern but reassuring look. “Of course, my fallen angel. If it pleases you, I’ll stay in my room all day and await your return.” This was enough to make Copia smile a bit as he put on the last pieces of his bright red vestments and he eagerly agreed.

“I swear on our Infernal Lord that my thoughts won’t stray from you for a single moment, my Papa,” Copia said as he approached the door. “I’ll be back in a few hours.” As soon as the wooden door shut behind him, the Cardinal could already feel a longing for what lay behind it bubbling up in his chest. However, he was very content with his work so the day would pass in mere moments, especially with a wonderful gift to look forward to at the end of it.

He returned to his orderly, near immaculate office and went through all of the letters waiting for him. Several were from Sisters of Sin requesting assistance and permission in various forms to prepare for future rituals. While these should normally be directed to the current leader of the church, in this case, Papa Emeritus the third, most of them had learned that speaking to him would garner few results. Copia groaned as he went through the menial parts of his job, but he was more than happy to do it if it meant that his lover would be less stressed at the moment. He knew that tensions between Papa and Nihil were higher than ever due to some admittedly poor decisions on III’s part, but it wasn’t his place to interfere with family matters.

The day wore on and Copia eventually decided that he couldn’t stand being cooped up in the stiff feeling room anymore, so he took to the winding corridors of the Church. On his aimless travels, he ran into the ghoulettes, who were hanging around in a corner as per usual. They never seemed to be separated; something that Copia deeply envied. As he waved at them, the pair giggled quietly and made a few of their communicative clicking noises. The Cardinal had yet to master their language, so he only smiled in response, but there was a nagging feeling in his gut that told him he was part of the joke; as if they knew something he didn’t. While he normally adored their company just as much as most members of the Church did, at that moment Copia wanted nothing more than a bit of distance between them.

After over an hour of wandering through the building, he realized that he had been vehemently avoiding the Papa’s quarters. Although their rather scandalous relationship was a closely guarded secret, it was far from unheard of to visit the Church’s leader for whatever other reasons. Copia made up his mind and decided that he would take the initiative and show his Papa that he wasn’t made up only of work. He didn’t realize that he always felt the need to prove himself as more than the ‘Employee of the Month’, but it seemed to click into place now.

Just as Copia was about to round the corner and dramatically kick down the door, he heard another set of footsteps. He peeked down the hall and saw a Sister of Sin carrying a pitcher of wine to the door before opening it without even knocking. The scene put a bad taste in his mouth, but at least he could find some solace in the fact that she was about to be thoroughly chewed out for her foolish misstep.

However, the angry yelling never echoed out of the room as he expected. An eerie silence fell over the corridor for a second that felt more like a millennium to Copia before a shrill shriek sounded from the room, promptly followed by the shattering of a crystal decanter.

The Cardinal’s heart skipped several beats as he raced to the door to see what had caused the scream. His stomach dropped straight to the pits of the Infernal Lord himself the moment he stepped into the room and he thought that he might faint.

~

Papa the third smiled faintly as he watched his favorite rat-man saunter out of his chambers. He absentmindedly bit his lip as he watched Copia’s ass sway away, wishing that they could have had another fun-filled hour together, but he supposed that if he wasn’t going to do the work, one of them still had to. His last few weeks were plagued with an odd sense of guilt, but not for his lack of reverence for the Church and his Infernal Lord.

No, he had begun to realize that his own lazy nature was beginning to take a toll on others around him. Papa could have cared less about his quarrels with Nihil, but he was beginning to take notice of the way Sisters of Sin would look at him in the halls. The younger of them still had a tinge of admiration in their eyes, but they made no effort to engage with him anymore while some of their elders had the audacity to give him venomous glares. At first, it was just a minor nuisance but III began to realize that just about everyone besides Copia seemed to be tired of his antics for some reason. Of course, there were still plenty of subordinates to serve him whenever he wanted something, but the entire atmosphere of the Church seemed to be shifting.

It was true that he had heard the rumors that the Cardinal had mentioned, but he refused to pay them any mind. As much as Nihil was unhappy with the affairs and rituals of the Church under his rule, there was no denying that he had brought the Church to a level of popularity that his father could never have dreamed of in the past. Even then, Nihil was still clinging on to the hopes of advancing the Emeritus bloodline, which meant that they would get into a spat and everything would be back to normal within a matter of minutes.

Still, that solution didn’t sit entirely right with Papa. There was still that feeling of subtle unease and discontent that wouldn’t let him take the half-assed solution today. With a heavy sigh, Papa decided that he would willingly meet with his father to arrange a change in the current situation.

He didn’t have a plan on what he could say, but the sudden weight of the revelation that he had been inexcusably terrible at his duties was delivering a heavy blow. Papa felt little guilt for the state of the Church itself, but he slowly realized that he couldn’t recall the last time he paused to consider how his actions affected anyone else in the long run. This could partially be attributed to how Nihil had raised them to behave, but as much as he would have liked to saddle his father with all the blame, he knew that would be a stretch.

Papa quickly pulled on his usual attire before poking his head out of the door to see who was nearby. Fortunately, two Sisters of Sin were chatting in the hall right outside.

“Dressed before noon, I see, Papa,” one of them remarked callously.

“I’ll ignore that disrespect because today is important, to me at least,” Papa growled. He pointed at the one who hadn’t said anything to ruin his opinion of her. “You. I need some of my favorite wine for later. Bring it to me at five o’clock.”

She hurriedly nodded and dashed down the hall; leaving her accomplice in the dust. “Don’t you have something you could be doing? This is usually a busy place, Sister,” the Church leader said with a hint of venom.

“I could ask you the same thing,” she grumbled as she walked off in the opposite direction of the other woman.

Were it not for the fact that III intended to clean up his act a bit, he would have seen to it that she was immediately reprimanded, but at the moment it seemed more prudent to regain some of the respect someone with his title should hold.

Now that his wine was ordered, Papa III returned to his room and feverishly tried to come up with a plan of something that he could say to Nihil. Anything that didn’t involve the words ‘I’m sorry’, at least. Hours ticked by as he sat at his desk and tapped his fingers idly; wondering why the usual charisma that guided him seemed to be failing now.

A knock on the door made him bolt up in surprise. The first thought that came to mind was that his wine had arrived, but it was still a few hours too early, so he had no idea of who it might be. Before he could answer the door it opened to reveal Nihil, along with Aether and Dewdrop.

“Oh, father… You know, I was planning to send for you later, but since you’re here already, I think we have a lot to talk about,” III said, some evident discomfort in his voice.

“Do we really? Because I think that what has been going on is rather obvious,” Nihil said. His voice was still relatively casual, but there was an angry fire in his eyes. “If I had to put it into words, I would say that you have failed your duties, failed the Church, and most of all… failed  _ me. _ ”

Papa was taken aback by the old man’s directness. Their arguments were never pleasant, but they usually didn’t get so heated, especially not this quickly. “I…” he trailed off, grasping desperately at all the things he had planned to say. “Well, that’s why I wanted to speak to you. I’m looking to change things, to make up for my shortcomings.”

“Oh,  _ really?  _ You want to change?” It was obvious that Nihil had been harboring a seething rage beyond what III had noticed. “Tell me, you fucking idiot. Do you seriously think that you can clean up all of the messes you’ve made?”

The Church leader’s eyes widened and he took a step back; subconsciously shrinking away from his father. This only caused Nihil to come closer, but III immediately noticed that the ghouls moved with him. Come to think of it, Papa didn’t know why they were here. These types of affairs were usually kept completely private to the rest of the Church, even excluding the ghouls that served them.

“I- I don’t know about that, but I want to try. I was talking to Copia and-”

Nihil cut his son off by nearly spitting out several insults before finally calming down a bit. “Don’t get me started on the Cardinal. I may not like him, but at least he has been working his ass off to fix everything you’ve broken.” A sly smirk appeared on his face that made a chill run down Papa’s spine. “And that is why he’ll be the one replacing you as the Church’s leader.”

Suddenly, the room was so quiet that one could have heard a pin drop onto the plush carpet. “You’re  _ firing  _ me?” III seemed to be completely flabbergasted, but it was mostly the shock of realizing that he had run out of chances.

“You misunderstand,” Nihil said and beckoned Aether to step forward. “Would you be a dear and hold him down?”

The ghoul nodded wordlessly and grabbed III by the arms and forced him to the ground, but Nihil shook his head. “No, no. Move him to the bed. He should get to enjoy those expensive sheets one last time.”

As Aether followed his orders, the Papa did his best to resist, but his efforts were rendered futile by the ghoul’s extraordinary strength. 

“What the hell do you think you’re doing, old man?” III was seething, but his voice still betrayed the fear he felt. “I’ll stand down; you don’t have to do this!”

“I can’t have the Emeritus family name be tarnished by you not only failing but also stepping down from your title. You’ve had a dozen chances, my son, and my patience has worn out,” Nihil said and gestured at Dewdrop.

The small ghoul stepped forward and let his tail show. Papa gasped as he realized that it was holding a saw that Dewdrop had kept hidden throughout the conversation. He now took it in his gloved hand and positioned it only inches above the Church leader’s neck before looking back at Nihil for some sort of approval. The old man nodded once and Papa soon felt the jagged teeth of the blade on his neck. Tears streamed out of his eyes and his face contorted as blood began to flow down his neck. He screamed in pain as Dewdrop mercilessly tore through his flesh; internally cursing himself for having this room soundproofed, although it was unlikely that anyone other than Copia himself would have come to check on him.

III’s death was prolonged and painful, much to Nihil’s satisfaction. The trio walked out of the room without bothering to clean up the mess or themselves. Several members of the Church were surprised to see Nihil roam the halls, especially when they noticed that his accompanying ghouls were drenched in blood, but every one of them had a suspicion of what had happened. The next hours were filled with a stifling silence that seemed to suffocate the entire building as everyone waited for the other shoe to drop.

~

Copia shoved the Sister of Sin out of the room and screamed at her to find a medic, even though they both knew full well that it was too late. As soon as he was alone, the Cardinal ran to the side of his beloved and held his freezing hand. It broke Copia’s heart to see the terrified look that was permanently etched into his Papa’s face now.

He barely noticed that tears were flowing down his face just as they had III’s. The Cardinal desperately tried to piece a story together from what he saw, but all he could do was clutch at what was left of his beloved. III’s head had been sawed clean off of his body, covering the entire bed that they had spent the morning in together with unimaginable amounts of blood. Copia remained at his side until several others arrived, some showing genuine care and others faking it only to turn around and gossip.

If the death of his lover hadn’t already shattered the Cardinal’s heart, the way that the people he had considered friends now mocked this display of loss definitely did. “Get out,” he mumbled. The crowd quieted a bit, seemingly confused. “I said,” Copia reiterated at the top of his lungs, “get  _ out! _ ” 

Even if he hadn’t bellowed his orders they would have been followed without any hesitation. Most of the Church members already had an inkling of the fact that Cardinal Copia would soon become their new leader and thus the face of the Church. Only one Sister of Sin remained and when Copia turned to see who was still there, he saw that she was deathly pale. As much as he felt guilty for presumably scaring her, he wasn’t going to apologize today.

He nearly spat at her when he asked her what she was still doing in their, no, his presence. “What is it?”

“I’m very sorry, but… uh, but Nihil wishes to speak to you,” she whimpered. 

Without saying another word to her, Copia walked out of his Papa’s room, still clutching the severed head to his chest. The blood mixed in with his garments, but not well enough to make it invisible against the bright red fabric. He supposed that he must look completely deranged, but he couldn’t bring himself to be affected by the stares he received in the dark hallways of the Church. Looks of horror would turn into those of grim understanding, or misunderstanding, in some cases, all the way to Nihil’s quarters.

Copia opened to door so violently that it slammed against the stone wall it was hinged to and came in without asking for permission with the formality he had lost less than an hour ago. He closed the door behind him and discreetly pushed a lock into place. “What is the meaning of this? What have you done to my- the Papa?” There was a demanding urgency in his voice, but the old man only laughed a bit.

Nihil stood up from behind his desk with assistance from Sister Imperator and towered over the Cardinal with the help of his full regalia. It was an imposing sight, but at the moment Copia knew nothing akin to fear. The few spurts of blood that had dried on Nihil’s vestments were enough to convict him of the crime in Copia’s mind, but he still wanted to hear a confession.

“What happened to my son? Well, I’m sure you’re smart enough to put two and two together, but if you must know, I had two ghouls take care of him once and for all. That one was an absolute disgrace to both myself and the Church,” he explained with a sly look on his face. The tone of nonchalance in his voice made Copia feel sick and only amplified his anger.

His hands were shaking as he set the bloody head on the desk before him and attempted to control himself. “What gave you that right, Nihil? You’re a decrepit, old-”

The Cardinal was cut off by Nihil holding up his hand to silence him. “Sister Imperator pointed you out to me. She told me that you’d make a better leader than my offspring and I believed that she was right, although I have been more than reluctant to take the required steps for a while now. Perhaps it would be best for you to prove yourself instead of standing here and insulting me.” The smile on his face evolved into a shit-eating grin. “After all, I just lost my son.”

That was all the Cardinal could take before finally losing it. He grabbed one of Nihil’s spare oxygen tanks and swung it at the old man’s head with a strength he hadn’t exhibited ever before. Sister Imperator’s face morphed from a calm mask to sheer surprise as she watched Nihil hit the ground and Copia dive right after him. He didn’t care about what would happen to him as long as this old man would feel some of what the Cardinal did. Someone was now pounding on the door, probably having heard the commotion and trying to figure out what was going on.

“You lost your son? I lost the love of my fucking life!”

Imperator attempted to pull him off and drill some reason into his skull, but she was pushed away; Copia wasn’t having it. “Please, Cardinal! You can’t let your passion blind you to these new opportunities!”

While Copia would never intentionally hurt the elder Sister, at the moment he seriously considered it. “New opportunities that I never wanted, Sister! How about you ask before killing someone for me next time?” The sarcasm was heavy and they both knew that there would be no ‘next time’ after this, regardless of how it ended.

Nihil groaned under the Cardinal, not able to form any coherent words with the amount of pain and damage caused to his head. The ghoulettes burst in after finally managing to break the lock and roughly pulled Copia off of Nihil. Several more ghouls came in after while others warded off the curious members of the church. The fact that the old man was still breathing forced the Cardinal to fight against the women holding him, but their strength reflected the fact that they were not human, so he was somewhat subdued.

“This isn’t right! He doesn’t deserve to live,” he cried out, once again on the verge of tears.

“And I doubt that he will, thanks to you,” Sister Imperator growled bitterly. She was not ready to let go of Nihil, but a pool of blood was slowly pouring out of his head from a gash that had gone unnoticed before. It was most likely from the impact of his own oxygen tank. “I tried to do you a favor but I was wrong in putting my faith in you.”

“Well… what’s that saying the kids like? No take backsies,” Copia replied. Seeing that there was nothing left for him to rage at, he was let go, but he felt the coldness that he would be receiving from now on. The Church had a new leader at the price of two bodies and much animosity.

“You two,” The new leader pointed at the ghouls that had been restraining him moments before. “See to it that everyone is informed of the coming changes. And you…” His eyes now wandered to Aether and Dewdrop, who had foolishly stayed in their bloodied clothes. “You will be serving me from now on.  _ Only  _ me. As for the rest of you? Keep your eyes out for some changes in our beloved Church.” 

~

Despite the Cardinal’s promotion being unexpected, he filled the role of leadership well. The story of what he had done quickly traveled throughout the Church and then there was no more doubt about how they would continue. The other shoe had certainly dropped, but the air of stiffness never quite disappeared. Cardinal Copia refused to accept the title of Papa after the circumstances surrounding his lover’s death, but things functioned the same. A short debate arose over whether or not I or II should be allowed to resume their place at the head of the Church, but they were quickly shut down by a menacing letter from Copia’s desk that was never discussed publicly.

Sister Imperator remained callous towards her once cherished Cardinal, but he treated her much the same. While he remained the consistent Employee of the Month they never spoke a word to each other. The two had lost someone close to them, but it was not enough to unite them because they knew whose fault it really was.

The Church never truly recovered from the loss of Papa Emeritus the third, but Copia always made sure it was thriving. His rituals were by far the most popular there had ever been, new members seemed to arrive daily, and… it left him empty. His life had always been dedicated to the Infernal Lord, but he hated his new legacy. The Cardinal had no intention of outshining his predecessor in any way, but now it seemed like that was his only option. He considered stepping down at every turn but. He knew that he couldn’t after the lengths he had gone to take this seat.

Some nights Copia would lay awake in his room, previously III’s, and smell the sheets in hopes of getting a single second of closure, but the feeling of bliss he craved never came. The only comfort the Cardinal would receive for the rest of his life was the romantic whispers of praise he imagined in the voice of his dead lover.

~

In the moments following his gory death, III could feel himself rising out of his own body. The scene before his eyes horrified him as much as it would later Copia. He could already sense the call of the pit below him, but Papa wasn’t ready to go yet. As much as he revered the Lord he had been told of his entire life, he couldn’t bring himself to welcome Satan’s embrace just yet. 

He watched his father leave the room with the ghouls and waited until his wine came, directly followed by his beautiful Cardinal. An aching sensation spread through Papa’s chest as he saw the look of sheer heartbreak fill Copia’s eyes, but when he screamed for his attention, no sound passed out of his lips. All he could do was listen to everything happen as if he was kept apart from the world by a pool of water.

The dead man discovered that he could not leave the room, so he wasn’t sure of the events that occurred after Copia ran out with his head, but he soon sensed the soul of his father passing through the Church as well, but it soon left the premise. He stayed in darkness for hours until his rat lover finally returned to cry and mourn for his loss. Papa had never really expected anyone to care so much if he actually disappeared and it honestly hurt to see, more than he could have ever imagined.

III took a seat beside the sobbing man who couldn’t see him and put an arm around him. Copia showed no signs of reacting but that didn’t deter Papa. He began to cry too because he knew that their lives could have been better if he had just tried a little bit harder. They remained there for the night and felt a comforting presence that they couldn’t quite place due the metaphysical barrier keeping them apart until something finally slipped through the cracks.

“I love you,” he mumbled like he did each day. This time, Copia’s head snapped up and he frantically searched the room for any sign of who was speaking. 

“Is that-” he cut himself off. “If you’re there, I love you too.”

Each night presented a fresh hope for them to be reunited, although it seldom worked. Some members of the Church thought that Copia was going mad because he could be heard talking to himself late at night and often missed sleep, but he was content and so was his Papa. Even if it wasn’t the physical relationship that they had once loved, they were not unable to enjoy their time together.

They went down in the history of the Church as cursed lovers that had won against the control of Nihil and caused changes that otherwise would have remained unfathomable, but in reality, their situation was far different. Both of them were at least content and now all they had to do was wait until the Cardinal would join his Papa and they could pass on together.

**Author's Note:**

> I have a writing blog where I take commissions and stuff, so please check it out if you liked this story! Comments are also super appreciated!
> 
> https://indecisive-strike.tumblr.com/


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